Lessons learned from CES 2011

Now that I have my first CES under my belt, I will be better prepared for next year’s event. Here’s a list of what I learned from CES 2011.

Facility

The most astonishing thing at CES was not a gadget but a facility. I never had to wait to get into the ladies room. I suspect there was only 1 female to every 50 males. Along those same lines, if you are single lady this is the place to be to meet a guy, as long as you are into the geeky type.

Comfort

Running shoes are the best shoes to wear, in my opinion. I feel sorry for all the ladies’ wearing heals; I can only imagine how sore their feet will be by Sunday night. If they are working the booths, they should expense a pedicure.Booths with plush carpets are the best. I would tend to stay in a well carpeted booth longer even if I didn’t care about the product. Along those same lines, booths with chairs are also more attractive. Add snacks at the booth and I’m there to listen to whatever.

Booth Babes and Customer Reps

I will never enter a booth when the booth is manned by a booth babe. I know sex sells, but I find this tactic offensive. If a company feels the only way to get people into a booth is to use sex, then maybe it means their product cannot stand on its own merit. Even worse than booth babes, asking your female to staff to dress provocatively. The fully dressed female Intel spokesperson was more “sexy” and convincing when demonstrating the new Intel chip, than any of the other company representatives with plunging necklines.

Documenting the Show

In preparation for CES, I purchased a memory card for my BlackBerry. I had no problem taking lots of pics, but the quality was not a good as I would have liked. Next year I will bring a decent camera that also has video capability.

Playing with the Gadgets

The best time to get “hands-on” with the gadgets or to speak to a customer rep was first thing in the morning. I found this was the best time to speak to the reps as there was less traffic in the booths than mid-day. The reps were also less tired than at the end of a long day on the floor.

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A little bit about Sharon Bennett

I have been in the IT industry for 23 years now. I remember the early days of DOS and the launch of Windows 3.1. The Internet was not available to the general public at that time. We used Archie and Veronica to "surf" (if you can call text-based internet surfing).
After all these years and changes one thing has always stood out: most people knew technology could help them but didn't know how to implement it.
My passion is teaching others on the technologies that can not only help their companies but their careers.